Smappee

WiFi Home Energy Monitoring

There’s no shortage of smart outlets and smart meters in the Internet of Things market, but WiFi enabled Smappee manages to stand out from the crowd. It offers insight into a home’s hidden “energy guzzlers,” which empowers users to cut down on their energy usage and save an average of 12% on energy bills.

The Smappee energy monitor is installed near the home’s fuse box, where Smappee can keep an eye on the total electrical consumption of the house. It doesn’t need to be wired directly into the electrical system, thanks to a current clamp that attaches to the outside of the main electrical cable.

For homes with solar panels, Smappee will track energy produced as well as energy consumed. The Smappee monitor itself draws less than two watts of power, which is well worth it considering that the average U.S. home draws about 1,000 times more, much of it unnecessarily.

Once connected, Smappee uses algorithms to analyze the flow of electrons into and out of the home. By teasing apart the patterns, Smappee can automatically recognize many appliances and how much energy they’re using. As an indirect monitor, Smappee may not perfectly detect every device in the house, but user feedback can improve the identification algorithm (useful if an appliance has two distinct energy consumption patterns, which could show up as two separate appliances).

In the Smappee mobile app, users can view the home’s energy snapshot and take note of devices that are hogging power or have been left on when they needn’t be. The app also presents detailed graphs of electrical usage to provide insights into daily and longer-term consumption patterns.

The Smappee monitor comes with one Comfort Plug, a smart outlet attachment that allows devices to be turned off and on remotely through the app. More Comfort Plugs can be purchased separately. Both the plugs and the monitor connect over WiFi.

Smappee can be ordered directly at the company’s website. The app is free and there are no usage fees; it’s a one-time purchase that will likely pay for itself in a couple of years. Learn more by watching the video below.